Midwest Traveler: Caucus-themed Iowa restaurant serves up political fare in classic surroundings

We needed strength. We needed sustenance. We were steeling ourselves to see 19 Democratic presidential candidates (including Minnesota's Amy Klobuchar) on a Sunday afternoon in June at a political event in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, that promised little food and lots of speeches.

What better time for a Bleeding Heart Flatbread or the Inaugural Balls at Caucus Bistro, a new restaurant paying homage to the nation's first-in-the-nation presidential contest? (The 2020 Iowa caucuses are scheduled for Feb. 3.)

The bistro is located in the farm community of Ladora, about 39 miles southwest of Cedar Rapids — and an easy stop along our two-hour drive from Des Moines. We also were in luck that it serves Sunday lunch.

Although my husband and I enjoyed Caucus Bistro's low-key but sophisticated fare, the biggest draws were the caucus-themed decor and the faded grandeur of the restaurant's digs — a restored former jewel box-style bank that opened in 1920 and closed 11 years later during the Great Depression.

Ladora (pop. 274) is what my husband calls a "blink town" — as in "blink and you'll miss it." (He grew up in one in Kansas.) After driving 90 miles east from Des Moines, we landed in Ladora via Hwy. 6, a two-lane road that runs through rolling hills dotted with cattle grazing in green fields, pretty old farmhouses and the occasional McMansion.

Amid a smattering of humble houses, abandoned storefronts, a weathered grain elevator and handwritten signs offering live bait and firewood that line the highway, we easily spotted the imposing tan brick building with two massive Doric columns. A sign indicated that this was, indeed, the Caucus Bistro.

Stepping inside the dining room did feel like entering an ornate jewel box. Original chandeliers dangle from the high ceiling. Flat pilaster columns and a zigzagging trim adorn the marble walls. Most poignant is a gold-colored band near the ceiling with letters spelling out sayings presumably designed to inspire confidence: "Wealth Is the Achievement of Thrift," "Frugality Is the Parent of Fortune" and the like.

Examining the framed black-and-white photos of politicians from caucuses past that dotted the walls, we had fun playing name that candidate. Among the easiest: George H.W. Bush, running with Iowa high school athletes in 1987, and Bill Clinton sharing a hay bale with then-Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin in 1992. Then there's Minnesotan Walter Mondale at a political dinner in Des Moines, Ronald Reagan on a tractor, Michael Dukakis on a tractor and Gerald Ford biting into a hot dog at the Iowa State Fair.

We sat in the bar area at a high-top table behind the original U-shaped marble teller cage, looking out through brass window grilles, each with a brass hook to hang a teller's visor. On the cage's wooden shelves, we admired old bank photos and paraphernalia.

During most of our meal, we were the only customers. We arrived with some young Harley riders who drank at the bar, promised to return for a meal and zoomed off. As we were leaving, some middle-aged day-trippers from Des Moines pulled up in a gleaming white BMW SUV.

These folks — motorcyclists and motorists exploring Iowa's scenic back roads — are typical customers, owner Dimitri Makedonsky told us. He was riding his own motorcycle when he discovered the old bank and bought it in 2004.

The original Ladora Savings Bank had fallen into dormancy and disrepair after many incarnations, including as a community center, a Cold War civil defense shelter, a drapery shop and a polling place. But in 1990, thanks to its neoclassical-style architecture, the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Following four years of renovation and restoration — repairing the roof, shooing the occasional critter — Makedonsky opened the Ladora Bank Bistro in 2008, serving upscale food that soon put Ladora on Iowa's culinary map.

The restaurant closed last February, reviving concerns about the fate of small-town Iowa's historic buildings. After retooling and redecorating, Makedonsky reopened as the Caucus Bistro in May, with a new menu, theme and chef, whose galley kitchen is located in one of the bank's three former vaults — the one that used to house the safe deposit boxes.

Although the menu's starters are made with well-known, fancy Iowa-made foods — from Maytag blue cheese to La Quercia prosciutto — we chose from among five politically themed Form a Consensus Flatbreads, made of fresh, chewy naan, and were pleased with our picks.

The Challenger ($13.50) was topped with bits of white Cheddar, bacon, apples, walnuts and spinach. The Bleeding Heart ($14.50) favored artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, garlic, mozzarella and Parmesan. The Inaugural Balls were too amusingly named not to order, but as we feared, they were too sweet — three blobs of cookie dough doused with syrup.

Makedonsky confirmed that no one has yet to order the Mar-a-Lago Club, listed on the menu for $175 and described as "three HUGE slices of white bread toasted to an orange hue, stuffed full of baloney, served with Russian dressing and a small pickle. (Tasteless, tacky and overpriced.)" The owner did add that if someone dared to order the Mar-a-Lago, he'd hustle over to the convenience store — with its arresting sign "Stop Ladora Stora" — for ingredients.

With the Caucus Bistro's $10 Bucket of Deplorables (four servings of PBR, Hamm's and/or Old Milwaukee — customer's choice!) available only during weekday happy hour, we were tempted to order a cocktail. Options include the Stormy Daniels, Slick Willy and Monkey Business. But we stuck with water. We had more driving and many speeches ahead.

Caucus Bistro in Ladora, Iowa, about four hours south of the Twin Cities and an hour-plus east of Des Moines, is open 4 to 10 p.m. Wed.-Thu., 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fri.-Sat., and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sun. (1-319-623-7766, caucusbistro.com).

More than 20 presidential candidates are scheduled to appear at the famous Des Moines Register Political Soapbox at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, Aug. 8-18. Most appearances are Aug. 8-13.

Many candidates are also scheduled to attend the Polk County Steak Fry in Des Moines on Sept. 21.

For more details on these events, plus individual appearances and group events later in the year, visit the Des Moines Register Candidate Tracker via desmoinesregister.com/iowa-caucuses.

Betsy Rubiner, a Des Moines-based travel writer, writes the travel blog TakeBetsyWithYou.